Last weekend, as it finally started to feel like spring, the Hopkins men’s and women’s track and field teams started their outdoor season. After a very successful winter, expectations were high for both men and women at the Maryland Invitational.
Hopkins saw success in many events. A few of the brightest moments came in the 3000 meter run, the 1500 meter run, the 4x400 meter relay and the high jump.
Junior Max Robinson and senior Josh Baker both had strong performances for the Blue Jays. Both runners brought their best stuff and ran personal bests.
Robinson’s 8:35.67 was not only a personal best, but also a program record. This performance was enough to notch first overall in the event, topping runners from schools like Maryland.
Baker finished with a time of 8:47.72. In the 1500 meter run, another personal best time of 3:59.86 was recorded for senior James Frick. This sub-four minute time put Frick in sixth place in the event. Julian Saliani came in ninth place in the same event with another strong time of 4:01.66.
The 4x400 meter relay teams posted a time of 3:26.08 as they ran their way to a third place finish. Ryan Walsh finished third in the high jump event. He jumped a height of 1.89 meters.
The star for the men this weekend was junior Max Robinson. Already holding the school record for the fastest 3000 meter time, he broke his own record in the event.
When asked about accomplishing such a remarkable achievement Robinson said, “Breaking the 3000 meter record was awesome just because it shows improvement from indoor. The 3K isn't a commonly run event in outdoor track so I really never had breaking that record as a goal of mine.”
He was also excited to finally get outdoors: “It's always great moving to outdoors. The warm weather's great and you can always run faster times on an outdoor track.”
Robinson stated that he has other goals set for himself including qualifying for the 5K or 10K to take him to nationals.
The men have worked very hard to prepare for this season. They have set their personal and team goals very high. Robinson made it clear that the team has been putting in countless hours of hard work to prepare them for their ultimate goal: winning the conference.
The women had similar success in their first weekend outdoors. The women’s team sent competitors to both the Maryland Invitational and the Stanford Invitational.
Two specific athletes highlighted the Stanford Invitational. Senior, Annie Monagle and freshman, Hannah Oneda ran the best times in the nation for Division III women’s track and field.
Monagle, a recently crowned All-American for indoor track, continued her success in the 800 meter and 1500 meter runs. Her times for both events not only set program and Centennial Conference records, but also were the fastest times in the nation.
She ran the 1500 meter race in 4:25.49 and the 800 meter race in 2:12.54. Oneda also shined in her event; the 5000 meter run. She also broke the Hopkins and Centennial Conference record with a time of 16:44.62.
The record breaking did not stop there. At the Maryland Invitational, junior thrower, Emily Swenson broke the school record in shot put. She threw 12.68 meters. Swenson also placed first in the javelin with a hurl of 39.67 meters.
Freshman Brynn Parsons ran a 100 meter time of 12.66 seconds to claim a freshman-record time for the Blue Jays.
Three other freshman records were broken at the Maryland Invitational. Rae Conklin broke the record for discus with a throw of 35.52 meters, Imoni McCorvey broke the record for triple jump with a jump of 10.82 meters and Megan McDonald broke the record for the 400 meter hurdles with a time of just 1:05.51.
The Hopkins track and field teams hope to continue their winning ways as the men’s and women’s teams both head to Durham, NC this weekend to compete against tough competition at Duke University.
The men’s events will start on April 4th and finish up on the 5th, while the women’s events will start on April 5th and wrap up on the 6th.
